"They are a very good football team and they are well-coached. We really played well above the expectations we wished for.

"I thought Brandon played a good ballgame. Kenny Irons probably got half his yards after contact.

"Defensively, we made some mistakes as we saw. We blew some coverage, and we missed some tackles. I thought we set the tone in the football game in the first 5-6 minutes. We couldn't score the touchdown, but we did score points.

"I have to take my hat off to Will Herring. Overall, it was a good game. We even played better than I thought.

"We won't have to hear about not winning the first game for a while. We knew we had to play at more of a level ... we played our offense and our defense and stuck to our guns. Our kicking game saved us in the first half because we couldn't get it in for a touchdown. John has had a great two-ad-days.

"The fake punt is something that we have been working on. It just set up for us, and we kept watching. We called it, even though it was around the 20-yard line. The momentum was switching. We had an opportunity to check out of it if we wanted to. It went perfect. It was a little trap play where we block the guard. It really got us out of the hole. Even though we missed the field goal, it switched the end of the field for us.

"They were doing a lot of things that we hadn't seen obviously. I am disappointed that one out of the four we didn't get in. We did get points. It is part of the game. You have to go out and execute and not make a mistake. We are going to need that experience down the line."

(On John Vaughn): "He has changed. He has gotten his hips open. He worked on it this summer. It has really changed his attitude and outlook. He is disappointed he missed that one. He hit it good but just pulled it a bit. It is going to be fun to watch him this year."

(On Kenny Irons): "You have to give the offensive line (credit). They blocked really well. Kenny continues to amaze me how he breaks tackles. Kenny is a guy who is going to be our horse. Twenty carries is not a lot. He got 170-180 (183) yards against a good team that put nine up there. I was impressed with their defese and the way they ran and their speed. We are going to look back and see that we were very fortunate with what we did."

Kenny Irons
On the play of the defensive line...
"The offensive line did an incredible job. They do a great job each week. They played a big part in the win."

On the win...
"It was a great win to start the season. We have to pick it up, though. We need to get better each week. We can play still play better."

"It was all about running physical. I started fast and ended strong. Coach (Al) Borges always stresses starting well and finishing strong. That's important for me."

Quarterback Brandon Cox
On the offense...
"We moved the ball well. We want to finish. We are all about finishing around here and we came out in the second half and did a better job of that."

On Kenny Irons...
"Kenny is Kenny. You have to give the offensive line a lot of credit. They open some holes for him and he got his typical 180 yards."

On Auburn's rushing attack...
"We rushed for close to 300 yards, so the running game is definitely there."

On Auburn's defense...
"It is great having a defense like we have, especially the speed they have. Going against them in two-a-days definitely prepared us for today."

On the game-plan...
"We came out and our goal was to be physical. The offensive line did a great job of wearing them down and blocking for the run. We were moving the ball well, we just couldn't finish drives. The second half we did a lot better, we need to be a lot better on third down."

On using the big play...
"Our first four drives, we came up short. The first play of each half was big, but in the end the offensive line just wore them down. "

Wide Receiver Courtney Taylor
On the passing game..
"We didn't throw much tonight. The running game was on we and were clicking. We made some good plays. I don't think any of the receivers had any drops. It is a good performance to build on."

Running Back Brad Lester
On the offense...
"I feel really good about how we ran the ball. We made a few little mistakes. We need to do a better job of turning three into seven, but it was the best first game we have had in a while."

On his touchdowns...
"It was good to get out there and run the football. On the first touchdown, Tim Duckworth kicked out the end and that sprung me. On the second one, Carl Stewart opened a hole for me and I just followed his lead."

Kicker John Vaughn
"I thought I had a pretty solid day. I have to make the one that I missed, but we had good snaps, good holds and good protection on every kick. The one I missed was on me, I'll take it. I yanked it."

Linebacker Will Herring
On being fired up for the game...
"We were definitely juiced. We put in a lot of hard work in the most physical two-a-days since I have been here. But most of all we were just excited to hit someone wearing another color jersey."

On his interception
"It is something we practiced all two-a-days, double-out routes from trips. I dropped one earlier so I was just excited to get another chance."

On the fake punt...
"It is something we put in for this game. It was a good look for their punt team. We had great blocking and a great snap and I was excited that they called it."

Defensive Back Aairon Savage
On the team speed...
"It was great. We had a good effort to the ball and great tempo."

On the Washington State offense...
"They have a great passing attack and they have the ability to run extremely well using two different backs."

On Auburn's defensive execution...
"I made some mistakes, but overall our defense as a whole played very well."

Defensive End Quentin Groves
On Auburn's front four...
"We played good, but not great. We eased up too much on some of our rushes. We have got to get better on rushes and twists. In their last scoring drive, they were able to pick up on our twists too easily."

On Auburn's ability to stop the run...
"It was o.k. We have to tackle better. It's all about fundamentals and we will watch film on that, practice it and we will be much better after Monday."

His thoughts on Washington State...
"They just don't quit. They can score points. They have a great offensive attack and if you let them, they can be very explosive. They can throw the ball all over the field."

Washington State Head Coach Bill Doba
On Auburn's defense...
"I thought their defense was better than we thought they would be. They were quicker and had good team speed."

On the fake punt...
"We got the three-and-out, had good momentum going and they ran the trick punt on us. That really hurt, but I think we learned from it."

On Auburn senior running back Kenny Irons...
"He is as good as I have seen, and he was good tonight. There were a lot of times I thought we had him, but he ran right through our arms. We didn't tackle very well. What he does so well is that he gets that flow going straight up the field and he has such great vision."

On the game...
"You are never happy with a loss, but I thought our kids battled hard. Our defense was put in some bad situations, but they never quit."

Alex Brink, QB
"We were fighting an uphill fight from the beginning. We got off to a slow start. With the No. 4 team in the country, you can't get off to a slow start. We didn't quite execute the way we needed to. Their defensive ends are fast. Their linebackers are fast. At times, we took advantage of it and had them on their toes. For the most part, they had us on our heels."

On Playing in front of 87,000+...
"It was a great experience. It is something we will be better for. I am glad we did it."

On Auburn's defensive pressure early in the game...
"We didn't start fast. We were fighting uphill against a really good football team. The early pressure got us off-balance. We knew they were going to be fast. We didn't protect right offensively."

Gary Rogers, Backup QB
"They said I was going in. I was stoked about it. I felt like I was really prepared coming in. I thought the coaches did a good job preparing me, and I had a great opportunity tonight. I just went in and tried to do my thing. I feel like I am ready to play, and when I get the opportunity, I want to make the best of it."

On the touchdown pass...
"I was in shot-gun. I noticed they had a single safety. He rotated to the left. I dropped back, looked off to the left and found (tight end) Cody (Boyd) wide open. I just didn't want to miss him."

Jason Hill, WR
On Auburn's Defense...
"Their scheme was better than we thought. We weren't able to adapt to it. They played with a lot of safety help, and the middle was wide-open. We just didn't hit it early in the game."